Is Microsoft 365 worth paying for if you only use Excel and Word?

Word and Excel are already free

Most of my working day is spent in spreadsheets and documents, so this is a question I get asked a lot. My short answer: many people pay for Microsoft 365 to open a spreadsheet or write a letter, and neither needs a subscription. Sign in at microsoft365.com with a free Microsoft account and Word, Excel and PowerPoint open in the browser.

The free web apps handle what most people do with them: a CV, a letter, a household budget, a sign-up list, a table of results. Files save to OneDrive, and a free account comes with 5 GB of space. You can open and edit .docx and .xlsx files that other people send you.

So the question is not whether you can use Excel and Word without paying. It is whether you need something the free versions leave out.

What the subscription adds

The differences are specific, and most of them only matter for some kinds of work.

	Free web apps	Microsoft 365 Personal or Family
Word, Excel, PowerPoint	In a browser only	Browser plus desktop apps for Windows and Mac
Working offline	No, needs a connection	Yes, in the desktop apps
OneDrive storage	5 GB	1 TB per person
New features	Security updates only	Regular new features
Copilot in Word and Excel	No	Yes
Teams group calls	Up to 60 minutes	Up to 30 hours
Technical support	None	Included

In my view two rows decide it for most people: offline work and storage. The rest are real, but few people pay for them alone.

Who should pay

Here is the checklist I would use.

Pay if any of these are true:

• You work in Excel or Word for hours a week, with large files, macros or features the browser version lacks.
• You need to work without a connection, on a train or a plane.
• You have more than 5 GB of files to keep in OneDrive, such as photos, and want them backed up.
• You want Copilot to draft documents or analyse spreadsheets.

Stay on the free version if:

• You open Word or Excel a few times a month.
• Your files are small and fit easily in 5 GB, or you keep them elsewhere.
• You are always online when you work.

Family is the plan that changes the sums. One Family subscription covers up to six people, each with their own 1 TB, which costs far less per person than six Personal plans.

The part people forget: storage

The subscription is sold as Office, but storage is often what people end up paying for. A terabyte of OneDrive, with automatic phone photo backup, is the reason many households keep paying long after anyone opens Excel.

I would check that before cancelling anything. If your OneDrive holds more than 5 GB, cancelling has consequences.

If you stop paying

Cancelling Microsoft 365 does not delete your files on the spot, but it starts a clock.

1. Straight away: your OneDrive allowance drops to 5 GB. If you are over it, your files become read-only: you cannot upload, edit or sync new ones.
2. After three months over the limit: the OneDrive account is frozen.
3. After six months over the limit: Microsoft may delete your OneDrive and everything in it.

Before you cancel, bring OneDrive under 5 GB or download what you want to keep. Your documents themselves are still yours; it is only the space that goes.

Free for documents, paid for storage and offline

Most people who only write the odd document or keep a simple spreadsheet do not need Microsoft 365. The free web apps do that job, and I would keep the money.

My advice: start free; pay when you hit a wall you can name: no internet, no space, or a feature the browser lacks. If you are new to the free version, the guide to adding up a column in Excel works the same way in a browser.